Surah 10. Yunus

For those who persevere in doing good there is the ultimate good in store, and more [than that].⁴¹ No darkness and no ignominy will overshadow their faces [on Resurrection Day]: it is they who are destined for paradise, therein to abide.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., more than their actual merits may warrant (cf. 6:160 - "Whoever shall come [before God] with a good deed will gain ten times the like thereof"). See also note [79] on 27:89 .

Those who do good deeds shall have a good reward and even more than they deserve! Neither blackness nor disgrace shall cover their faces. They will be the inhabitants of paradise; they will live therein forever.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

For those who do good is the best (reward) and more (thereto). Neither dust nor ignominy cometh near their faces. Such are rightful owners of the Garden; they will abide therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But as for those who have done evil deeds - the recompense of an evil deed shall be the like thereof;⁴² and - since they will have none to defend them against God - ignominy will overshadow them as though their faces were veiled by the night's own darkness:⁴³ it is they who are destined for the fire, therein to abide.

  - Mohammad Asad

In contrast with the multiple "rewards" for good deeds, the recompense of evil will be only commensurate with the deed itself. (See also note [46] on the last sentence of 41:50 .)

Lit., "by a piece of the night, densely dark".

As for those who have done evil deeds, they will be rewarded with like evil: disgrace will cover them - they shall have none to protect them from Allah - as if their faces have been covered with patches of the dense darkness of night. They will become the inmates of the Fire; they will live therein forever.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who earn ill deeds, (for them) requital of each ill deed by the like thereof; and ignominy overtaketh them. They have no protector from Allah. As if their faces had been covered with a cloak of darkest night. Such are rightful owners of the Fire; they will abide therein.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, one Day We shall gather them all together, and then We shall say unto those who [in their lifetime] ascribed divinity to aught but God, "Stand where you are, you and those [beings and powers] to whom you were wont to ascribe a share in God's divinity!"⁴⁴ - for by then We shall have [visibly] separated them from one another.⁴⁵ And the beings to whom they had ascribed a share in God's divinity will say [to those who had worshipped them], "It was not us that you were wont to worship;⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "you and those [God -]partners of yours"; cf. surah {6}, note [15]. The expression makanakum (lit., "your place", i.e., "keep to your place") bears a connotation of contempt and an implied threat.

I.e., separated those who ascribed divinity to beings other than God from the objects of their one-time adoration (Tabari, Baghawi): a metonymical phrase denoting a realization on the part of the former that there has never been any existential link between them and those false objects of worship (cf. 6:24 , 10:30 , 11:21 , 16:87 and 28:75 - "and all their false imagery has [or "will have"] forsaken them"). See also the next two notes.

I.e., "it was only your own fancies and desires that you worshipped, clothing them in the garb of extraneous beings": in other words, the worship of idols, forces of nature, saints, prophets, angels, etc., is shown here to be nothing but a projection of the worshipper's own subconscious desires. (Cf. also 34:41 and the corresponding note [52].)

On the Day when We shall gather them all together, We shall say to those who committed shirk (associated other deities with Us): "Stay where you are, you and those whom you set as partners with Us." We will separate them from one another, then the shoraka' (partners they had set up with Us) will say: "It was not us that you worshipped!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On the day when We gather them all together, then We say unto those who ascribed partners (unto Us): Stand back, ye and your (pretended) partners (of Allah)! And We separate them, the one from the other, and their (pretended) partners say: It was not us ye worshipped.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and none can bear witness between us and you as God does: we were, for certain, unaware of your worshipping [us]."⁴⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus the Qur'an makes it clear that the saints and prophets who, after their death, have been unwarrantably deified by their followers shall not be held accountable for the blasphemous worship accorded to them (cf. {5:116-117}); furthermore, even the inanimate objects of false worship will symbolically deny any connection between themselves and their worshippers.

Allah is an all-sufficient witness between you and us, (even if you worshipped us) we were quite unaware of your worship."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Allah sufficeth as a witness between us and you, that we were unaware of your worship.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

There and then will every human being clearly apprehend what he has done in the past, and all will be brought back unto God,⁴⁸ their true Lord Supreme, and all their false imagery will have forsaken them.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., will be brought back to the realization of God's oneness, uniqueness and almightiness - that instinctive cognition which has been implanted in human nature as such (see 7:172 ).

Thereupon, every soul shall know what it had sent forth, as they will be brought in the Court of Allah, their true Patron, and their invented falsehoods will leave them in the lurch.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There doth every soul experience that which it did aforetime, and they are returned unto Allah, their rightful Lord, and that which they used to invent hath failed them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

SAY: "Who is it that provides you with sustenance out of heaven and earth,⁴⁹ or who is it that has full power over [your] hearing and sight? And who is it that brings forth the living out of that which is dead, and brings forth the dead out of that which is alive? And who is it that governs all that exists?" And they will [surely] answer: "[It is] God."⁵⁰ Say, then: "Will you not, then, become [fully] conscious of Him -

  - Mohammad Asad

The term rizq ("provision of sustenance") is used here in both the physical and spiritual connotations of this word, which explains the reference to "heaven and earth" and, subsequently, "[man's] hearing and sight".

The people referred to here are those who believe, firstly, that there are beings endowed with certain divine or semi-divine qualities, thus having, as it were, a "share" in God's divinity; and, secondly, that by worshipping such beings men can come closer to God. This idea obviously presupposes belief in God's existence, as is brought out in the "answer" of the people thus addressed (cf. 7:172 and the corresponding note [139]); but inasmuch as it offends against the concept of God's oneness and uniqueness, it deprives those people's belief in God of its true meaning and spiritual value.

Ask them: "Who provides your sustenance from the heaven and from the earth? Who has control over hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? Who regulates the universe?" They will soon reply: "Allah." Say: "Why do you not then fear Him for you going against the truth?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Who provideth for you from the sky and the earth, or Who owneth hearing and sight; and Who bringeth forth the living from the dead and bringeth forth the dead from the living; and Who directeth the course? They will say: Allah. Then say: Will ye not then keep your duty (unto Him)?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

seeing that He is God, your Sustainer, the Ultimate Truth?⁵¹ For, after the truth [has been forsaken], what is there [left] but error? How, then, can you lose sight of the truth?"⁵²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "this [or "such"], then, being God, your Sustainer, the Ultimate Truth" - i.e., "seeing that, on your own admission, He is the One who creates and governs all things and is the Ultimate Reality behind all that exists" (see surah {20}, note [99]): which implies a categorical denial of the possibility that any other being could have a share, however small, in His divinity.

Lit., "How, then, are you turned away?" - i.e., from the truth.

The same Allah is your real Rabb: What is left after the truth except falsehood? How then can you turn away?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Such then is Allah, your rightful Lord. After the Truth what is there saving error? How then are ye turned away!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Thus is thy Sustainer's word proved true with regard to such as are bent on sinful doings: they will not believe.⁵³

  - Mohammad Asad

See surah {2}, note [7], as well as 8:55 and the corresponding note [58]. In this particular context, "the Sustainer's word" seems to be synonymous with "the way of God" (sunnat Allah) concerning deliberate sinners and deniers of the truth (Manar XI, 359). The particle anna in annahum (lit., "that they") is, thus, indicative of the purport of the divine "word" referred to, and is best expressed by a colon.

Thus has the Word of your Rabb proved true in regards to the transgressors that they do not believe.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Thus is the Word of thy Lord justified concerning those who do wrong: that they believe not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Can any of those beings to whom you ascribe a share in God's divinity create [life] in the first instance, and then bring it forth anew?"⁵⁴ Say: "It is God [alone] who creates [all life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew. How perverted, then, are your minds!"⁵⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

This rhetorical question is connected with the false belief that those idolatrously worshipped beings are no more than "intercessors" between their followers and God (see verse {18} above): and so, even their misguided votaries cannot possibly attribute to them the power to create and to resurrect. See also note [8] on verse {4} of this surah. In its wider sense, this question (and the subsequent answer) relates to the God-willed, cyclic process of birth, death and regeneration evident in all organic nature.

See surah {5}, note [90].

Ask them: "Can any of your shoraka' (the deities you worship besides Allah) create anything and then repeat its process?" If they do not answer, then tell them: "Well, Allah creates and then repeats the process. Then how is that you are so misled?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say : Is there of your partners (whom ye ascribe unto Allah) one that produceth Creation and then reproduceth it? Say: Allah produceth creation, then reproduceth it. How then, are ye misled!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Does any of those beings to whom you ascribe a share in God's divinity guide unto the truth?" Say: "It is God [alone] who guides unto the truth. Which, then, is more worthy to be followed - He who guides unto the truth, or he who cannot find the right way unless he is guided?⁵⁶ What, then, is amiss with you and your judgment?"⁵⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Since the concept of "finding the right way" cannot apply to lifeless idols and idolatrous images, the above passage obviously relates to animate beings - whether dead or alive - to whom "a share in God's divinity" is falsely attributed: that is, to saintly personalities, prophets or angels whom popular fancy blasphemously endows with some or all of God's qualities, sometimes even to the extent that they are regarded as a manifestation or incarnation of God on earth. As for the act of God's guidance, it is displayed, primarily, in the power of conscious reasoning as well as of instinctive insight with which He has graced man, thus enabling him to follow the divine laws of right conduct (Zamakhshari).

Lit., "[and] how do you judge?"

Again ask them: "Is there any of your shoraka' who can guide you to the truth?" If they do not answer, then tell them: "Well, Allah can guides you to the truth. Then who is more worthy to be followed: He that can guide to the truth, or he that cannot and is himself in need of guidance? What is the matter with you? What kind of judgement do you make?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Is there of your partners (whom ye ascribe unto Allah) one that leadeth to the Truth? Say: Allah leadeth to the Truth. Is He Who leadeth to the Truth more deserving that He should be followed, or he who findeth not the way unless he (himself) be guided. What aileth you? How judge ye?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, most of them follow nothing but conjecture: [and,] behold, conjecture can never be a substitute for truth.⁵⁸ Verily, God has full knowledge of all that they do.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "conjecture can in no wise make [anyone] independent (la yughni) of the truth", i.e., of positive insight obtained through authentic revelation (to which the sequence relates). The people referred to here (and apparently also in the first sentence of verse {53} of this surah) are the agnostics who waver between truth and falsehood. - Some of the great exponents of Islamic Law - foremost among them Ibn Hazm - base on this verse their rejection of qiyas ("deduction by analogy") as a means of eliciting religious laws which are supposedly "implied" in the wording of the Qur'an or of the Prophet's teachings, but not clearly laid down in terms of law. In his commentary on this verse, Razi thus sums up the above view: "They say that every deduction by analogy is a conjectural process and is, therefore, of necessity, inadmissible [in matters pertaining to religion] - for 'conjecture can never be a substitute for truth'." (See also {5:101-102}, and the corresponding notes [120-123].)

The fact is that most of them follow nothing but mere conjecture and conjecture is in no way a substitute for the truth. Surely Allah is well aware of all that they do.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Most of them follow naught but conjecture. Assuredly conjecture can by no means take the place of truth. Lo! Allah is Aware of what they do.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now this Qur'an could not possibly have been devised by anyone save God: nay indeed,⁵⁹ it confirms the truth of whatever there still remains [of earlier revelations] and clearly spells out the revelation [which comes] - let there be no doubt about it - from the Sustainer of all the worlds.⁶⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "but" (wa-lakin) - a stress on the impossibility of any assertion to the contrary.

The above passage has a twofold significance: firstly, the wisdom inherent in the Qur'an precludes any possibility of its having been composed by a human being; and, secondly, the Qur'anic message is meant to confirm, and give a final formulation to, the eternal truths which have been conveyed to man through a long succession of prophets: truths which have subsequently been obscured through wrong interpretation, deliberate omissions or interpolations, or a partial or even total loss of the original texts. For an explanation of the phrase ma bayna yadayhi, rendered by me in this context as "whatever there still remains [of earlier revelations]", see surah {3}, note [3].

This Qur'an is not such as could be produced by anyone other than Allah; in fact it is the confirmation of prior revelations (Psalms, Torah, and Gospel) and fully explains the Holy Book (prior scriptures); there is no doubt in this fact that it is (revealed) from the Rabb of the Worlds.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And this Quran is not such as could ever be invented in despite of Allah; but it is a confirmation of that which was before it and an exposition of that which is decreed for mankind-- Therein is no doubt--from the Lord of the Worlds.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And yet,⁶¹ they [who are bent on denying the truth] assert, "[Muhammad] has invented it!" Say [unto them]: "Produce, then, a surah of similar merit; and [to this end] call to your aid whomever you can, other than God, if what you say is true!"⁶²

  - Mohammad Asad

According to the great philologist Abu 'Ubaydah Ma'mar ibn al-Muthanna (as quoted by Baghawi), the particle am which introduces this sentence has no interrogative connotation, but is - as in several other places in the Qur'an - synonymous with the conjunction wa ("and"), which in this case can be suitably rendered as above.

Cf. 2:23 and the corresponding note [15].

Do they say: "He (the Prophet) has forged it?" Tell them: "If what you say be true; then produce one Surah like this, you may even call to your aid anyone you want other than Allah."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Or say they: He hath invented it? Say: Then bring a surah like unto it, and call (for help) on all ye can besides Allah, if ye are truthful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay, but they are bent on giving the lie to everything the wisdom whereof they do not comprehend, and ere its inner meaning has become clear to them.⁶³ Even thus did those who lived before their time give the lie to the truth: and behold what happened in the end to those evildoers!

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the knowledge whereof they do not encompass, while its inner meaning has not yet come to them". Most of the classical commentators explain this sentence in the way rendered by me, some of them, however (e.g., Tabari and Baghawi), interpret the term ta'wil ("final [or "inner"] meaning") in the sense in which it is used in 7:53 (see my translation of that passage and the corresponding note [41]).

Nay! They do not believe that which they cannot grasp, for they have not yet seen its prophecy fulfilled. The same way those who passed before them disbelieved. But see what was the end of the wrongdoers!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Nay, but they denied that, the knowledge whereof they could not compass, and whereof the interpretation (in events) hath not yet come unto them. Even so did those before them deny. Then see what was the consequence for the wrongdoers!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And there are among them such as will in time come to believe in this [divine writ], just as there are among them such as will never believe in it;⁶⁴ and thy Sustainer is fully aware as to who are the spreaders of corruption.

  - Mohammad Asad

The verb yu'minun, which occurs twice in this verse, can be understood as connoting either the present tense - "[such as] believe", resp. "[such as] do not believe" - or the future tense. The future tense (adopted by me) is the meaning unequivocally attributed to it by Tabari and Ibn Kathir; some of the other authorities, like Zamakhshari and Razi, prefer the present tense, but nevertheless regard the other interpretation as legitimate. (See also Mandr XI, 380.)

Of these people there are some who will believe in it and some will not: and your Rabb best knows the troublemakers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And of them is he who believeth therein, and of them is he who believeth not therein, and thy Lord is best aware of the corrupters.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall